Over the past twenty years there has been a substantial increase in the number and types of programming available to television viewers. In a typical American household, it is not uncommon for viewers to have available fifty or more television stations, and in some cases viewers have more than one hundred channels to choose from. Although the large number of programs are appreciated by those viewers who desire a wide variety of program selections at any given hour of the day, the high number of channels often makes it difficult for viewers to efficiently locate any single program. Furthermore, due to the ever increasing number of channels and programs at the fingertips of the television viewer, viewers often have difficulty in deciding what station or program to watch. For instance, although a viewer may locate an interesting program, the viewer may still spend a considerable amount of time navigating the remaining channels to confirm that there isn't a more desirable program selection.
Aiding television viewers with program selection has been addressed in a variety of manners. For instance, many cable systems feature a preview channel that offers viewers a preview guide as to the programs being broadcast on each channel. Typically, preview guides indicate the programs currently airing on each channel, as well as programs to be aired within a certain period of time, such as during the next half hour or hour. Preview guides scroll program information on the screen so that the TV viewer can determine in a passive manner what is being shown on each channel. However, this method of providing TV viewers information regarding programming has some major drawbacks. First, subscribers cannot view a program and the preview guide at the same time, because the preview guide is on a dedicated channel. Second, the viewer is subjected to the latency of tuning to the preview channel and then to a desired channel. Third, because the preview guide is not interactive or cannot be controlled by the viewer, the viewer must wait until the preview guide posts information regarding the programming for each of the channels, which is inconvenient for a large number of channels. Because preview guides may post information regarding the channels sequentially according to channel number, a viewer may be forced to watch the preview information for every channel until the viewer's desired channel is listed. Further drawbacks include the fact that preview channels offer limited information about programs, and only show program information for shows on air or for a short time interval immediately thereafter.
More recently, satellite systems and cable television systems have offered viewers interactive menus that allow viewers access to information regarding programming that is currently being aired and programming that is to be aired in the near future. Using these systems, viewers can access a program guide that allows viewers to interactively scroll through available programming, usually based on times and channels. Furthermore, viewers can view details regarding programs scheduled to be aired at a specific time on a specific channel in the near future, such as the length of the program, a program summary, the program players or hosts, the program's rating, as well as other data. Subscribers of these systems can also obtain information regarding the particular program they are viewing, at the time they are viewing the programming. For instance, a viewer can watch a program and at the same time, retrieve information regarding that program whereby the program information is overlayed on the motion picture. However, these systems face some major drawbacks.
For example, viewers can only receive one channel at any given time, although viewing separate channels at the same time is a desirable aspect to subscribers, as evidenced by television sets on the market today offering picture-in picture. Furthermore, although some systems are capable of presenting programming guide information to subscribers using a graphical user interface, which can provide information for multiple channels, the video picture of the currently tuned channel is the only one presented. Additionally, satellite systems do not offer two-way interactivity to enhance the electronic program guide graphical user interface presentations with additional information, without delay, when the viewer requests it. Information requested by subscribers regarding satellite programming is also often slow because there might be a substantial time lapse before a satellite dish can receive the viewer-requested program information. Furthermore, viewers cannot view programming broadcast on multiple channels together with program information for each of those respective channels simultaneously on the same screen.
Therefore, what is needed is an interactive digital home communication terminal that enables TV viewers to display motion video pictures of multiple channels at the same time, while simultaneously enabling viewers to obtain on-demand programming information for one or more programs without having their program viewing interrupted and with little or no latency. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for viewers to interact with the data and graphics information displayed through the home communication terminal, to communicate with the terminal, and to access information rapidly, such as Internet data, so that a more comprehensive and entertaining experience is facilitated.